SG's Musings

As I mentioned in the previous post, my yahoo email is blocked at work.   So getting this iphone has been a wonderful thing. As I’ve just posted on facebook

I love my new iphone ! Now if I’d posted that Mon or Tue it would have been completely materialistic but if it hadn’t been for the iphone I would have missed out on a treat on Wed ! A friend emailed me and offered me a ticket to a gig on Wed night as she couldn’t make it. Work won’t let us read yahoo email so I only got the msg in time ’cause I got it on my phone !

The gig was a classical ensemble from Melbourne called Sunwrae. The promo information about the gig:

SUNWRAE ENSEMBLE

“Hoorah! The amazing Sunwrae Ensemble (www.sunwrae.com) is coming to Sydney.
This unique ensemble showcases some of Australia’s finest musicians that
command the piano, vibraphone, string quartet, harp, clarinets, alto flute,
lap-steel guitar, double bass, drum-set and percussion
(www.myspace.com/sunwrae). Dynamic, engaging and visually stimulating, Sunwrae
stylishly captivate audiences, performing instrumental music by Artistic
Director Rae Howell, textured with persuasive rhythms and spectacular
improvisation! They have a new album AUTUMN NEVER FALL. FBI have some double
passes to giveaway to their Basement Gig on May 13th. Yay!”

And yes, it was as fab as that makes it sound. The music is basically classical but definitely non traditional. The show started off with part of the ensemble (basically the piano and strings) playing a piece from their new album. Then the rest of the crew joined them and some percussion and the harp added to the mix. The pianist swapped to the vibraphone for some pieces which again changed the style. Later on in the set a regular drum set was used.

What appealed to me most about the gig was just watching the musicians giving of themselves by playing their instruments with feeling and the realisation that that is what is important when playing. Music really is food for the soul. My keyboard practice has lapsed a little in the last couple of weeks and that gig has inspired me. I had a little dabble last night really trying to feel the pieces and express myself when playing and it was great.

Only disappointing thing for me - there was an animation film being shown in the background during one of the pieces which was an advertised feature of the gig. It was the first piece of the second half of the gig and I had moved over slightly so had a better view of the piano playing. Well I was so engrossed in watching the musicians, both the pianist and the lead violinist that I completely missed the animation ! It was only when I noticed credits rolling up on the screen that I realised that had happened. Damn shame !

And another funny story about the gig now. Background - It was a lovely atmosphere in a pretty small place and between playing the musos just hung around at the bar with the audience. I had been admiring the piano playing in the first half so during the break went up and talked to the pianist who was an absolutely gorgeous woman. Just expressed how much I was enjoying the show and her playing and that she was inspiring me as I’d just started playing the keyboard and just up to 1/8th notes !

Once second set started and I looked at the CD which my friend won too, and I picked up on her behalf, I realised that not only was the woman - Rae Howell - a superb pianist (and vibraphonist), she is the director of the ensemble and composes all of the music. So a little embarrassed that I didn’t realise that when talking to her !

Links for more info about the ensemble:

Sunwrae website
Sunwrae Myspace page (has good bit of music available to listen too)

Yes, I love toys. A little time left on my 24 month mobile phone contract with 3 but patience is not a virtue of mine - didn’t want to wait till that was up. Really wanting some free (as in uncensored) internet access during the day as from work am unable to see my yahoo mail, the Josh Hillis Coaching site and a couple of other sites I like to use. When I finally got an ipod (only last year believe it or not, because the disks weren’t big enough for me until the 160GB came out) it proved to be the best purchase ever. Absolutely in love with it. And have been admiring work colleagues’ iphones for quite some time now.

I visited the glass Apple store in the city on Saturday and played with the iphones there. Being a foodie, what sold it to me there and then - the All Recipes DinnerSpinner App (App = application, in iphone speak)

It is so cool. Select type of dish you are making, the main ingredient and time available, and voila a selection of recipes offered up. I tried “Main Dish”, “Chicken”, “Slow Cooker” and got 21 recipes back, including one which I’m going to try this week - a baked whole chicken very simple, with paprika, salt and pepper. And it is free. (Most apps cost a few dollars)

Big decision which network provider to go with. Choice of Telstra, Vodafone and Optus (3 don’t have iphone available). From all accounts Telstra’s network the best and Optus the worst (haha). But we had to weigh that up against cost. After spending a couple hours trying to put my own together, I found a link to this, very useful spreadsheet on the Whirlpool site. Also a lot of useful discussions about iphones and telco plans. General aside, it’s a great site to visit for information about broadband internet if you’re in Australia.

Conclusion - Optus and their $49 cap won out despite apparent network quality. And I ended up signing myself up for 24 months as figured with the amount of calls I make and internet data I’d use would have to pay $40-50 a month anyhow so might as well get the phone subsidised instead of forking out $900 or so. Telstra would have been nice but I also could very well be getting monthly phone bills of $150-200.

2 days later - it is a wonderful thing. I’m in love with it too. Wifi internet works great both at home and at Optus Wifi hotspots - found one in North Sydney by accident yesterday. Sitting at bus stop on Pacific Hwy near Walker St, my phone picked up an unblocked Wifi network from the Harbourview Hotel. Checked later and this is an Optus hotspot. And the Optus coverage has been fine so far too.

Have started using a few apps, will review and talk more about the phone in subsequent posts.

Pitch Black are a band from NZ bit hard to categorise but lets say a dub/electronica/dance combo. Definitely one of my favourites, if you are into any of those genres worth checking out. This post was initially just going to be advertising a free download track from their upcoming remix album that has been made available on amplifier.co.nz

Pitch Black free track download from Amplifier

However I then had a look at their website and have found lots more cool stuff. There’s a lot more tracks up there for download for a start. Home page of site here, you can go to downloads section to check out more tracks.

Piece de resistance for me though, a link to a youtube video. This is a little segment showing some of the equipment they use and a little bit about what they do playing live. If you’re into music and geeky technology stuff, it’s a fascinating little insight.